Horizon Europe · MSCA Doctoral Network · Grant No. 101119941

INSIDE-HEART at the University of Turku

Our lab is part of the INSIDE-HEART consortium, a biomedical engineering doctoral network dedicated to the design, clinical validation, and early translation of digital biomarkers for supraventricular arrhythmia (SVA) characterization and risk assessment, bridging cardiac physiology, biosignal instrumentation, and patient-facing monitoring technology.

7
Countries
10
Partner Institutions
10
Doctoral Candidates
1
Clinical Partner: TYKS
Who we are

A Biomedical Engineering Lab at the University of Turku

Our node bridges cardiac physiology, biomedical instrumentation, and clinical cardiology to advance how supraventricular arrhythmias are detected, characterized, and risk-stratified outside the hospital.

Our role in INSIDE-HEART

The University of Turku (UTU) node works at the intersection of biomedical engineering and clinical cardiology. We design and validate non-invasive physiological sensing methods, including mechanocardiography, seismocardiography, and photoplethysmography, capable of capturing subtle cardiac mechanical and electrical events associated with supraventricular arrhythmias, with a particular focus on translating these methods from bench to bedside.

Our work spans biosignal acquisition, cardiac mechanics, and physiological modeling, carried out in close collaboration with clinical partners at Turku University Hospital (TYKS) and nursing science researchers, ensuring that every engineering solution is grounded in patient physiology, clinical workflow, and diagnostic relevance. As one of the academic partners in the INSIDE-HEART network, we work alongside Politecnico di Milano (coordinator), Lund University, Universidad de Zaragoza, Technion, and clinical and industrial partners including Centro Cardiologico Monzino and Medtronic Bakken Research Center on a shared doctoral training pipeline in cardiac digital biomarkers.

Cardiac Biosignal Sensing Mechanocardiography Seismocardiography Clinical Cardiology Arrhythmia Risk Assessment Biomedical Instrumentation

Project Snapshot

  • ProgrammeHorizon Europe – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
  • Grant No.101119941
  • CoordinatorPolitecnico di Milano, Italy
  • UTU UnitINSIDE-HEART Lab, Biomedical Engineering & Clinical Cardiology
  • FocusDigital biomarkers for supraventricular arrhythmia characterization and risk assessment
Our People

Team Members

The Turku team brings together engineering supervision, clinical cardiology, nursing science, and doctoral research within a single biomedical translation pipeline.

Prof.

Pasi Liljeberg

Principal Investigator

Leads the INSIDE-HEART lab at the University of Turku, overseeing the biomedical sensing and cardiac digital-biomarker research carried out within the consortium.

Tero Koivisto

Project Manager

Coordinates day-to-day project management, reporting, and partner communication for the Turku node of INSIDE-HEART.

Ajdar Ullah

PhD Researcher

Researches cardiac biosignal processing, including heart-rate estimation from accelerometer and seismocardiogram signals, toward non-clinical detection of supraventricular arrhythmias.

Prof.

Anna Axelin

Supervisor · Department of Nursing Science

Supervises the nursing-science and patient-care perspective of the project, connecting biomedical sensing development with clinical usability and family-centered care.

MD

Jussi Niemelä

Pediatric Cardiologist · Pediatric Department, TYKS Hospital

Provides clinical cardiology expertise and pediatric arrhythmia insight, guiding the clinical relevance and validation of digital biomarkers developed by the team.

Research Output

Latest Publications

Recent publications from the Turku team on cardiac biosignal processing and heart-rate estimation within INSIDE-HEART.

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Heart Rate Estimation Through Autocorrelation from Single Axis Accelerometer of Smartphone

A. Ullah, I. Elnaggar, O. Lahdenoja, J. Jaakkola, S. Jaakkola, T. Vasankari, J. Airaksinen, T. Kiviniemi, T. Koivisto, P. Liljeberg · 2025 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2025, pp. 1–4
Accelerometry · Heart Rate DOI: 10.1109/EMBC58623.2025.11253255 →
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Adaptive Autocorrelation Based Heart Rate Estimation From Single-Axis Seismocardiogram: A Comprehensive Benchmark Across Six Diverse Datasets

A. Ullah, I. Elnaggar, S. Seifizarei, O. Lahdenoja, U. Azmat, J. Jaakkola, S. Jaakkola, T. Vasankari, J. Airaksinen, T. Kiviniemi, T. Koivisto, P. Liljeberg · IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2026, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 7875–7886
Seismocardiography · Signal Processing DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2026.3665979 →

This list will be updated as new INSIDE-HEART publications from the Turku team are accepted.

On the Road

Events & Meetings

Consortium meetings, training schools, and conferences the Turku team has taken part in.

6–17 July 2026

EIT Digital Summer School – Intelligent Embedded Systems

"Build the Future with Intelligent Embedded Systems", hosted at ISEN Méditerranée, Toulon, France.

23–26 March 2026

Spring School – AI in Bertinoro

Doctoral training school on artificial intelligence, held in Bertinoro, Italy.

26–31 May 2025

IEEE-EMBS International Summer School

"Advanced Data Analytics in Physiology", held in Pisa, Italy.

2025

EMBC Conference 2025

47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, where the team presented its heart-rate estimation research.

7–10 April 2025

Digital Biomarkers for SVA Characterization and Risk Assessment

INSIDE-HEART network training event, held in Jaca, Spain.

Get in Touch

Interested in collaborating, joining the team, or learning more about our work on supraventricular arrhythmia detection? Reach out to the INSIDE-HEART Lab at the University of Turku.

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Lab LocationInside-Heart Lab, Vesilinnantie 3, Agora 452C, 20500 Turku, Finland
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Project Websiteinside-heart.eu